Smothering is an unfortunate cause of death of newborns and infants in the United States. Some causes of infant smothering include infant overlay and positional asphyxia. Infant overlay occurs when an infant is sleeping with an adult and the adult smothers the infant. Positional asphyxia occurs when an infant's face is trapped in soft bedding or is wedged in small spaces with cushions or mattresses. Often times, parents of infants are concerned about suffocation and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Even though parents have utilized infant safety educational courses and utilized safety equipment on furniture in their homes to reduce the risk of infant smothering and injury, infant smothering remains a persistent concern of parents for their infant's well being. Furthermore, safety equipment on furniture and safety courses may not offer meaningful solutions to address the risks of infant suffocation due to the infant's own clothing.
Different types of infant sleepwear offer parents benefits and detriments when dressing their infants for bed. Parents may be concerned about whether to dress their infant in a one-piece or two-piece garment when the infant sleeps. Garments made as one piece covering the infant's entire body or two-piece garments (i.e. pants and shirt) are a safety issue for parents concerned about infant suffocation. Dressing infants in a one-piece garment may be inconvenient for parents since the one-piece garments are more difficult to remove and there is less variety in dressing the infant. On the other hand, dressing infants in two-piece garments may offer parents more variety when dressing their infant, but bears the risk of a separate shirt riding up and interfering with the infant's breathing. Both types of clothing have benefits and detriments more particularly described below.
Infants may wear one-piece pajama garments where the shirt and pants are comprised of one continuous garment. However, one-piece garments may cover an infant's entire body. For example, an “onesie” covers the arms, legs, and torso of an infant. Alternatively, one-piece garments may leave parts of the infant's legs exposed to allow the parents to easily access the infant's diaper or to change the infant. One-piece garments are often cumbersome for parents to remove or to dress the infant. Additionally, one-piece garments may not regulate an infant's temperature properly. If the garment covers the infant's entire body, the infant may be very warm. Some one piece garments expose the infant's legs so the infant may get cold. To address the issue of temperature regulation of the infant, a parent may dress an infant in a two-piece garment with separated pants and a shirt. However, the risk of suffocation or strangulation for an infant dressed in a two-piece garment is a concern to parents. Thus, there is a need for two-piece sleepwear for infants that address these risks.
Furthermore, an infant's diaper may drag down a pair of pants due its size. Moreover a diaper may become saturated when an infant is sleeping or between diaper changes. When an infant's diaper is full, the weight and increased size of the diaper might cause an infant's pants to be dragged down, causing the infant discomfort.
With the foregoing in mind, a system of infant clothing is required that has the convenience of dressing an infant in a two-piece outfit, but without the concerns of infant suffocation. With the need for that system in mind, the inventor has created a two-piece anti-smother baby sleepwear system that minimizes the risk of infant suffocation and also helps to hold up an infant's diaper.